The Change

I remember my Mother.

I remember our love.

I remember her braiding my hair, and laying my clothes
out nightly for the next school day.

I remember my Mother singing, and dancing to love songs
playing on the radio, while preparing our family dinner.

I remember lip synching for her every weekend, along with
my brothers and sister to songs playing on her eight-track
tape player.

I remember Our shopping sprees. Weekly for clothes; monthly
for food.

I remember Our weekend trips. Every two weeks to the drive-in theater.
One week just taking a drive around our town. One week visiting relatives.

I remember her stories about her childhood, and the merriment
in her eyes as she told them.

I remember our move.

I remember the pasta, potatoes, split-in-half franks, frozen fish
sticks, and cleaning up before dark.

I remember the Incident.

I remember the last time my Mother cried, "What happened to
my baby?"

I remember a time when my Mother would have never blamed me
for my siblings' faults ....

I remember my Mother making my last year of high school the worst
year of my life.

I remember screaming, " I hate you Mommy, you treat me like dirt!"

I remember her later saying, "... I ... love you ... your father and I ...
planned You."

I remember our tears, and our pain about the Incident, and our
silent acknowledgment that things would never be the same.

This poem was written, as a homework assignment in a creative writing class, almost thirty years ago.

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